Our New House - Probably

25 May 2009

So I promised to post some good things about Minot. Well here's one - our new house. Apparently the people in Minot haven't heard that there's a recession or a housing slump so houses are going up in value (20% in the last year) and are selling 1 day after they go on the market. There were only 10 or so houses that cost less than $200k and I saw them all the Satuday I was there. The realtor told me that I should pick one and put in an offer because they would all be sold by the end of week and then I would need to come back later. I wasn't so sure she was right but I picked one anyway and put in an offer. Luckily it was slightly better than the other offer they got (again, after being on the market for only 36 hours) and we started the wonderful mortgage loan process. There are some hiccups because of our student loan balances but hopefully the loan will go through okay and we'll be good.

The house is really nice and was the only one I saw with a two-car garage (no engine block heaters for us - it's heated!) It is 1800 sq ft and has 4 levels and 4 bedrooms. The yard is pretty big and there's lots of room for a playset and a garden. The two downsides are the location (right next to the university and student housing) and the master bedroom (about the same size as our bed). Here are some pictures.

Where in the World Are the Coopers Moving?

22 May 2009

Aggg! It's been a month since my last post!?! I can't believe it! I have been so busy that my posting has really taken a back seat. First I went to Utah to see my family, then I went to Idaho for my brother Kevin's wedding, then I went back to San Antonio and then I drove to our forwarding base to buy a house. So much has happened that it will take several posts to catch up.
This post is dedicated to our forwarding base. Are you ready?

Minot, ND

Yep, we got assigned to the least popular of all the Air Force bases in all the world. But, as the saying goes, "Why not Minot?"

Well, I'll tell you why not - and I should know because Holly, Derek and I just drove there and back. Here are our top 10 reasons why not Minot:

1. Driving there from San Antonio takes approximately 30 hours each way.

2. Flying there costs $1,000 and the 900 sq. ft. airport only has 2 gates (actually there are cheaper flights but not on short notice so I guess that's just normal, not anything against Minot specifically).

3. It's in the middle of nowhere.

4. The Minot AF base is where they keep the nuclear missiles.

5. Are you kidding me? It's like 30 below for nine months a year.

6. Has anyone ever heard of an engine block heater - yeah, neither have we.

7. The next closest city is 2 hours away, and it's Bismarck, ND.

8. Canada is closer than Bismarck, ND.

9. (In your best singing voice) Minot, North Dakota where the wind goes whipping down the plain.

10. See the pictures below:

(This last one is really in England, but you get the idea.)

Please look forward to my next post where I will outline the good things about Minot, ND and display pictures of the house that I bought in one day. Plus, later this week you can see the wedding cake I made for Kevin and Karen and pictures of my babies being silly. Stay tuned...

It's Been Awhile

22 Apr 2009

Wow! It's been a whole week since my last post. Well, I've been busy. I spent several days making dresses for my friend's little girl and some wedding clothes for my kids. I used the fabric from an extra skirt that Kevin and Karen bought to make these cute little numbers. The dress is for Holly (obviously), the vest is for Derek (good thing cause Tyler says it looks like "pink girl clothes") and the tie is for Tyler.

Today Tyler and I finished up his Fiesta float. Fiesta is San Antonio's version of Orem Summer Fest except that it involves the whole city (population 2,000,0000) and the kids all get a day off of school to celebrate. So tomorrow Tyler's school is having a Fiesta party and as part of that everyone is bringing floats to pull around in the Fiesta parade. We made this (more fun with cardboard and packing tape - remember the transformer house) for the parade. The wheels don't turn so hopefully the parade is inside on the tile. If they go outside on the sidewalk or in the grass, he'll be in trouble. I don't really know much about Fiesta but we did the best we could.

I also washed the kid's bedding today. Here is Derek watching his fluffy "go round and round in the big hot dryer." Why is there a window on that dryer?!?

Lastly, I was reading "One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish" to the kids for their bedtime story a few minutes ago. I had just finished the page below when Tyler looks down at the book, pauses thoughtfully, and says in a very serious voice, "She won't." I love him!

Easter Cake

13 Apr 2009

Here is my Easter cake. I made it to eat after our Easter dinner with Joseph and Amanda but we had lots of cookies and candy so I took it to my visiting teacher instead. She has 5 boys plus her husband so they should be able to polish it off no problem. I like Janet's Easter cake too http://rushincoopers.blogspot.com/

Potty Training Continues

13 Apr 2009

Okay, so I think Derek has the "pee pee in the potty" thing down. He's doing really good at staying dry. However, we are still having trouble with "poo poo in the potty." I've tried fiber wafers, grapes, glycerine, candy, spankens, everything I can think of and he is still scared to go in the toilet. Eventually I told him that he had to sit there until he went to the bathroom. He was a little upset but then I brought in the TV and he was fine - for like 9 hours!!! That's really how long it took. Here's a picture of the sich.

Since Derek and Tyler were busy most of the day, I had time to make this Thomas cake as a reward for Derek's efforts.

Blog Museums

8 Apr 2009

Have any of you ever heard of Blog Museums? I hadn't until today. I was trying to figure out who MommaK is and I stumbled upon this page (http://gotnik.blogspot.com/) that finds and catalogs awesome blog posts. I read the first one on the page and it nearly brought me to tears. The way that she describes her feelings toward her daughter Rachel, mirror (almost exactly) how I feel about Tyler. He is such a good kid and yet so infuriating. I am not really a very good writer and it is a rare day that I can actually articulate my feelings in any meaningful way at all. I deeply admire the talents of the woman who wrote the essay below and I am so grateful for her ability to express my feelings so perfectly. Please read it.

She's All That
We are in the local supermarket and I have a large grocery list. Hours ago, in a burst of inspiration, I took out our kids cookbooks and chose about 10 recipes to tackle together this week. We need projects. Big time. Hannah is sitting in the back of the cart. I have filled the little shopping cart seat area with fruits and vegetables and I've got eight more aisles to go. My time is running out. There is limited space in the cart and Hannah's expiration time is uncertain.

"Hey, Mom, let's get Mango Tango!" Rachel says, staring over at the Odwalla juice display.

"No. It's too expensive." (We sometimes buy it at Costco, where it is about half the price.)She thinks for about four seconds and then asks enthusiastically,

"But, what if it was on sale?"I feel myself getting irritated. Here we go again. Rachel's mind-numbing reasoning. Her ace negotiation skills.

"We're sticking to the list," I say firmly, not even glancing at the Odwalla stand.

The girl had a valid point. I could have checked if it was on sale, but dammit, I just wanted her to take no for an answer. Just once.

This time the conversation ended there. No more questions. We moved on. On other days, it's an exhausting game of mental gymnastics. The girl is smarter than me. I'm more powerful and ultimately win, but if our sport had a panel of judges, I doubt I'd be so lucky.

It always baffles me a little when a parent describes a child as easy. Maybe I just haven't had an easy child yet, but my girls are challenging.....easy in some ways, hard in others. Very different from each other, but not opposites. And in no way easy. Rachel was never one to throw public tantrums, but could throw a good one at home. She slept through the night eventually, but not early on, and not when she was sick or teething. She was work, and each age has had different challenges. And rewards.

I'm always asking her to stop complaining-sometimes her whining seems endless--but at the same time, the girl is an incredibly positive spirit. She was so excited last week when I unscrewed the top of an old IKEA baby dresser and turned it into a small bookshelf for Hannah. She placed the books beautifully on the shelves and was so excited she said, with no sarcasm, "This is the most exciting time I've ever had with you two!" (Stop laughing. We DO get out.)

There are other frustrating paradoxes. The girl is a fantastic older sister. I mean, it's a beautiful thing. But at the same time, the buttons she can push. Oy. She is constantly telling Hannah she is wrong about something and I am constantly telling her to not correct Hannah--to just let her say what she wants to say. Perhaps it is the younger sister in me. I don't know. But I do know how many conversations end in a battle between older and younger sister of "yes", "no," "yes," "NO!" "Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaah." Too many.

My point is, this girl is good. She is fantastic, really. But I am constantly on her case. Sometimes I need to be. And sometimes I need to back off. It's hard to get it exactly right.

The other day we couldn't find her swimsuit. I had looked for over a half hour and was irritated at her for not helping me look. Okay, she gave a feeble attempt for five feet or so and then collapsed on the floor in a heap. So I went on strike. I told her if she could find her swimsuit we would go and if not we wouldn't. Then I went downstairs and left her in her room to think it over. I wasn't convinced that this was fair of me. I listened to her cry, but I was too tired to get up and keep looking. She stopped crying. She shouted down to me a suggestion about wearing one of Hannah's swimsuits. I hollered back up without listening very carefully that, no, it wasn't appropriate. She couldn't wear a swimsuit that was too small. She protested. I got irritated. She cried. And when she came downstairs and we talked a bit more I understood what she was suggesting. She wanted to wear a bikini top under Hannah's one-piece swimsuit. Hannah's suit was only slightly too small. It was brilliant suggestion, really. The top didn't match the one-piece, but together they looked fine really. We went swimming.

One afternoon last week--perhaps it was the same day we went swimming, I'm not sure--Rachel was having trouble listening as I was putting Hannah down to nap. We butted heads. And then after a while I went into her room and suggested she come lie down in my bed with me, because I was tired and so was she. She whined a little, because she was over-tired, but then she joined me.

She lay in my arms as I drifted in and out of sleep. I had flashbacks to when she was two and I had to lay down on the edge of the bed with her to keep her from climbing out of bed. I remembered how I used to have to turn my back to her so she wouldn't get distracted and try to get me to talk or laugh. While my back was turned, I would hear her talking to herself in a two-year old babbling sort of way until she finally fell asleep. Now here she was, such a grown-up, really. And on this afternoon last week, after we had shut our eyes long enough to feel rejuvenated, we looked into each other's eyes and kissed and swooned at each other like lovers. We whispered into each other's ears how nice it was to have this time alone to cuddle.

And when we got out of bed it was like we were refreshed and reconnected again. Rachel later told me how much she enjoyed that time together. I could see it in her eyes. It was like her spirit was revived.

Do you ever pay attention to how much time you spend each day making eye contact with people? I'm asking because I forget to, and when I do it makes such a difference. I read somewhere that all a dog needs is five minutes a day of intense attention with an owner. That if you lay down on the floor with them and give them five minutes of complete attention, they'll get the connection they need. I know there are a lot of studies out there talking about how important this kind of intimacy--this connecting-- is in a romantic relationship.

Some things really are easy in the end.

I said, SOME things.

Catalogued by Raehan on 7/30/2006 09:47:00 PM
http://gotnik.blogspot.com/

Cake Wrecks

8 Apr 2009

Rebecca sent me this link. You HAVE to look at it - and don't just look at the pictures. You have to read the words too. It is sooooo funny I laughed for like 3 hours.

http://cakewrecks.blogspot.com/

Why is there snow in San Antonio?

5 Apr 2009

Okay, so check this out. I was driving around and I saw a huge pile of snow melting in a parking lot behind a big building. I seemed normal at first (being from Utah and all) but then I thought, "Wait, I'm in San Antonio. It doesn't snow here - and if it did, it certainly wouldn't stick. Plus, it's like 70 degrees outside and it has been all day. Where did that snow come from?! What is going on?"

I drove around the parking lot looking for more snow, but there wasn't any. Just that one pile. I was so confused. Then, right as I was about to give up and drive away, I saw a sign and I figured it out. I want all of you to post a comment with your guess of why there was snow in the parking lot and then click on the link below to find out if you are right.

http://www.dinnertimerecipes.blogspot.com/

More and more and more Holly

2 Apr 2009

I just love my little baby girl!!! She is so cute! I did a little photo session last night while trying to figure out how to take an indoor picture without using the flash. I didn't really get it figured out but I was somehow able to capture all of the facial expressions that Holly uses in the space of about half an hour. The expressions are as follows (left to right): happy, thoughtful, silly, sucking on hands, and extra mad. I also got a video of her very first laugh (see below)! It was great.

APRIL FOOL!

1 Apr 2009

Jared didn't really wreck his car. We got that picture off the internet and used PhotoShop to change the color of the car. Jared wrote that post, not me. Jared's friend Button (who was supposedly at the accident) is out of town. The whole thing was a joke! Ha ha, we are the funniest people we know. Below you can see the original picture next to the doctored one. We love you guys!